Creator
Charles Dwight Willard
Recipient
[John Muir]
Preview
Transcription
-3-I was indifferent about it. I had no other philosophy than that of doing today's work today - a philosophy that has this advantage, if industriously carried out: that it gives one no chance to ask himself questions. It was in the second year of my illness that the impatience began to wear away, and I was able to look on the world with calmness and in a spirit of inquiry. What followed seems almost like a miracle to me now, as I look back over it in the aggregate and analyze my changed and clarified point of view; and yet each step was natural and easy - almost inevitable. It was merely a process of mental housecleaning, a cautious thinking out of problems and matching them together to make a consistent whole - a new philosophy of life, in which happiness and hope can grow as they never could before. I do not speak of this as anything unique, for I am sure it happens to many people at one time or another of their lives. Not every one needs a long illness, as I did, to put him through such an experience. And I don't pretend to be able to communicate it to anybody - at least not by any easy and rapid method. I speak of it chiefly because I feel that when a man who has been imprisoned over four years with a wrecked body, and who has lost his home by fire, ventures to say that he is reasonably happy, and never enjoyed life so much - there is certainly some form of explanation due from him. And here you have it. With earnest good wishes and sincere regards, [ILLEGIBLE]Post Office Address: Rural Delivery Route 1, Los Angeles, Box 320. 05331-3-
Location
Los Angeles
Date Original
1912 Dec 25
Source
Original letter dimensions: 28 x 21.5 cm.
Resource Identifier
muir20_1529-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 20, Image 1529
Copyright Status
Copyright status unknown
Copyright Statement
Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Owning Institution
University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Page Number
Page 3
Keywords
John Muir, correspondence, letters, author, writing, naturalist, California, correspondent, mail, message, post, exchange of letters, missive, notes, epistle
